Hunters express doubts on dead birds find

The hunters’ federation expressed reservations about Monday’s joint BirdLife-CABS bird finds, saying “these people would create seriously doubtful situations against hunting and trapping”.

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) said Monday’s incident, when BirdLife Malta and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter said they found about 80 dead protected birds in the Miżieb woodland was to be expected because CABS would do its utmost to give rise to such incidents in the hope it would attract public sympathy.

FKNK said it knew such circumstances would arise and, weeks prior to the BirdLife-CABS raptor camp, had alerted the authorities and was prepared to pay for a police officer on extra duty to accompany them.

“These warnings must have fallen on deaf ears,” it said, adding that, as a result, CABS “coincidentally” found birds when none of the 200 dogs belonging to hunters who frequented the area had been able to pick up.

FKNK remained mum on the alleged assault on two CABS members just before a press conference on Monday. A council member of FKNK has been arraigned over the incident.

The raptor camp has recorded protected birds being illegally targeted during the night after hundreds of raptors and a flock of 22 spoonbills, among other protected species, flew into Malta to roost.

“The 22 spoonbills roosted close to the Salina bird sanctuary, a known hotspot of illegal hunting and trapping activity,” BirdLife said. It said nine of the spoonbills flew in a south-westerly direction to leave Malta and three, which had visible gunshot injuries, remained in Salina with another two birds. The fate of the remaining spoonbills was unknown, BirdLife added.

A team on a night watch at one of the larger roosts in Girgenti heard some 26 shots during the night and reported the incidents to the police, BirdLife said. “The targeting of protected birds during the night invariably takes place every time rare species roost in the islands,” its conservation manager, Andrè Raine said. “This is a clear indication of just how ridiculous the illegal hunting situation is and it is about time the government accepts the situation for what it is: a serious international conservation problem,” he continued.